Always
by Shira Lansys
Summary: They're leaving Hogwarts forever, tomorrow, but they still have today. For xNomii.


Title: Forever  
Rating: T  
Warninsg: One swear word. Hence the T rating.  
Wordcount: 1,658  
Song Inspiration: We Are One (Lion King II Soundtrack)  
Written for: Your Favourite Couple Competition, with the prompt "Your couple reminisce about something".  
Dedicated to: xNomii. Finally, here's your happy story. Thank you for being so patient.

* * *

The wind gently stirs the trees lining the edge of the forbidden forest and skims across the grass of the deserted Quidditch pitch. It's strange that it's deserted, Remus thinks, because usually on such a beautiful, free day it would be absolutely covered with meandering students. Then again, he realises, they probably all have last-minute packing to do.

"It's strange to think we won't be coming back here," Sirius says. His fingers are entwined with Remus', and the werewolf knows that if there were people around they would be staring at this unusual gesture. For the past year, Sirius and Remus had kept their unorthodox relationship to themselves. As much as Sirius revelled in setting cats amongst pigeons, he'd respected Remus' wishes and the werewolf's dislike for social drama (especially drama that had himself at the heart of it).

But as they'd walked down the stone steps of Hogwarts, a sudden impulse had struck Remus. One that went something along the lines of: "Who cares what everyone else thinks? Fuck them; I'll probably never see them again anyway. If I want to hold my boyfriend's hand, then I will." When he'd sunk his hand into Sirius' pocket in his search for Sirius' hand, the Black had looked surprised, but he hadn't said a word. He'd just squeezed back lightly, and Remus had felt his heart melt.

"I know," Remus says softly, eying the deserted Quidditch stands. "So many memories."

"Remember when we won the Quidditch cup last year?" says Sirius, touching the base of the goalpost lightly with his free hand as they walk past.

"Remember when you lost us the cup this year by getting kicked off the team?" Remus' voice is dry, almost chiding.

"Do you have to go on about it?" Sirius groans. "James does that enough for the both of you."

"You're lucky he's still talking to you," Remus says, but there's a hint of laughter in his voice that tells Sirius he is more amused than annoyed at the fact they'd lost.

"Hey, I've forgiven _him_ for heaps of things," Sirius says indignantly.

"Oh yeah?" Remus eloquently raises one eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Like…," Sirius says, and Remus can tell he's frantically searching his mind for some sort of example. "Like getting a girlfriend!"

Remus can't help but laugh at that. "I didn't know that having a girlfriend was a criminal offence," he says teasingly.

"It is if the girl happens to be Evans," Sirius says. "Seriously, she hates my guts! And I thought she hated James', too."

"I don't think she hates you anymore," Remus says. "And I still haven't ruled out the idea that James has been spiking her drinks with love potion for the last year and a bit."

"We have to find an antidote, in that case," Sirius says, mock-seriously. "She's ruining him! He actually studied for his NEWTs, I'll have you know!"

Remus grins as Sirius flails his arms, almost hitting the werewolf in his fit of dramatics. He knows Sirius doesn't really mind Lily anymore; ever since he'd found out that Lily knew about Remus' "Furry Little Problem" since their third year, he'd deemed that she'd earned his grudging respect. Things are still a little hostile between the two of them upon occasion, but they're much better than they once were.

They pass underneath the stands, and Remus' mind is assaulted with a barrage of memories. This is where he'd had his first kiss with Gretchen Adams, a Hufflepuff in the year above him. This is where he'd told Lily that he was a shirt-lifter – the first person he'd come out to. And, of course, he'd spent many a happy afternoon under here with Sirius, the two of them kissing each other and doing not a lot else.

"Remember that prank we pulled last year?" Sirius says fondly.

Remus had forgotten, actually, but he nods anyway. He remembers the one Sirius is talking about now he'd brought it up; it was the one where they'd made all the stands (except for the one the teachers were in) levitate off the ground and rock perilously from side to side, attempting to buck all the students off them. When the students fell off, they were saved from an untimely death-by-splattering by several metres of anti-gravity spells, which had every single person at Hogwarts floating around in it. It had been one of the most complex series of spells Remus had ever performed, but it had also been their most fun prank to date.

"Yeah," Remus replies. "That was a lot of work. But it was definitely worth it."

"The Quidditch teams weren't too happy about it." Sirius doesn't sound very apologetic about that fact at all.

"At least we waited until the match had finished," Remus says. "We could have been horrible and done it before the game started."

"That would have really put them off," laughs Sirius.

They begin to wander over to the lake. "This is where we shared our first kiss," Remus says quietly, as they pass beneath one of the biggest trees. "It seems like only a few months ago."

"I dunno, Moony," Sirius says grinning. "Being shackled to you… it makes it feel like decades."

Remus shoves him playfully. "We should visit Hagrid," he says suddenly. He's really enjoying their reminiscing, and there are so many fond memories for them in Hagrid's hut.

"Not yet," Sirius says. "We can go down with James and Pete later tonight."

"We could go down now as well," Remus says. "After all, this could be the last time we see him for ages."

"He's in the order, isn't he?" Sirius points out. "When we join, we'll see him at meetings."

"Why don't you want to go visit him?"

"I do!" Sirius protests. "Just… not yet. I want it to stay just us two for the moment. This could be our last chance to be alone at Hogwarts _ever_. I don't want to share you."

Remus smiles, and presses a kiss to Sirius' lips. "You'll have me all to yourself when we leave," he says as he pulls away, but he drops the matter of visiting their large friend.

"I will, won't I?" Sirius says happily as they walk in the shade of the Forbidden Forest. "Just us two. The pair of us against the world."

"Look out world," Remus laughs.

They fall into a comfortable silence as they continue walking, and before they know it they've done a large circle and are once more walking at the lake's edge. Lazily the giant squid glides alongside them, and Remus can't help but remember the time James summoned him in a bid to prove he was better than Sirius at summoning charms. Remus still feels guilty for the distress they'd caused the aquatic animal, and he hadn't even been involved, really.

He's surprised James isn't still doing detentions for it.

"It was good, though, wasn't it?" Sirius says finally, breaking the quiet between them.

"Yeah," Remus says. "It was amazing. Even the bad stuff…." Images of transformations and tears streaming down Sirius' cheeks and the times Remus sat by as James tormented Snape enter his mind, but he blocks them out. "Even the bad times were sort of good, in a way. Like, they just make everything more perfect. More whole."

"I know what you mean," Sirius says.

"I never…," Remus begins, and then pauses. "I never thought I'd get this chance," he continues. "And even when I dreamed of Hogwarts as a child, I never expected it to be this amazing." Sirius looks like he's going to interject, so Remus rushes on. "And it's all because of you," he says quickly. "You and James and Pete. These last seven years have been the most amazing times of my life. I think even if I live for another hundred, amazing years, my time at Hogwarts will still be the best, and it's because of you. There were times that I could forget what I was, and pretend that I was normal. I don't think you can quite imagine what that means to me, but it does mean a lot. So thank you."

He hears his voice catch and stops talking. Sirius looks a little speechless, so Remus relieves him of the necessity of answering by kissing him. "I love you," he says to Sirius after he's pulled away. "I always will. No matter what."

"Ditto," Sirius says, and it's such a Sirius thing for him to do that Remus can't help but chuckle.

"For the record, Remus," Sirius says eventually. "We wouldn't have been the Marauders without you, and I don't know whether I'd want to be if you weren't thre. And I'm not sure that the past seven years of my life with be the best _ever_ – who knows, maybe they will – but I do know that this last year that I've been with you will always be my favourite year of my life, no matter how good the rest of it is."

There's nothing really that Remus can say to that, so he doesn't say anything at all. He picks up a stone and attempts to skim it like James does. It 'plops' into the water and sinks like… well, like a stone. It doesn't matter, though; the moment is too perfect for a stupid stone to ruin.

"James and Peter must have finished packing by now," he says eventually. "We should go up and check."

"They'll be fine," Sirius says. "Let's just stay here forever."

"Really? And miss dinner?"

"I'm not hungry." But a few seconds later, Sirius' stomach betrays his lie by rumbling loudly.

Remus laughs. "If you say so. But I am, so let's head back before the sun sets and we can't see where we're going."

"I don't want to." Sirius pouts. "I want to stay with you."

"I'll still be here, silly," Remus says, amused, by Sirius' behaviour. "I'll always be there."

"Always?"

"Always."


End file.
